Singapore imposes minimum cooling efficiency standards
29th December 2019
SINGAPORE: Minimum energy efficiency requirements for industrial water-cooled chilled water systems are being introduced by Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) from 1 December 2020.
Under the Paris Agreement, Singapore pledged to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030, and stabilise our greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030.
Chilled water systems for process and space cooling are said to account for approximately 16% of the electricity consumed at industrial facilities – making them the second highest electricity-consuming system in the industry.
More than 70% of these systems were also reported to be operating inefficiently. Water-cooled systems are the predominant type of chilled water systems in Singapore and account for more than 90% of the electricity consumed by chilled water systems.
The new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will apply to both new and existing water-cooled chilled water systems. Systems in new industrial facilities must conform to MEES after a prescribed period if planning permission clearance or equivalent is sought on or after 1 December 2020. Existing energy-intensive industrial facilities regulated under the ECA must conform to MEES by 1 December 2025, while those in other industrial facilities must conform by 1 December 2029.
Energy-intensive industrial facilities are defined as facilities that consume over 15GWh per year and are involved in manufacturing and manufacturing-related services, supply of electricity, gas, steam, compressed air and chilled water for air conditioning; and water supply and sewage and waste management.
The new minimum standards are predicted to reduce the energy consumption in industrial facilities by at least 245GWh annually.
